Chapter 99

Zhou Yushu got off the carriage with his original face still intact.

"...Huh?" Is this what he looks like? And why does he look so familiar? Cui Zui was deeply confused.

Xuan Shiyi immediately recognized the face and gasped in shock: Consort Zhen?

Xuan Shiyi had never met Zhou Yuting in person, but as a spy, it was essential for him to recognize all the named figures in Daqi. Not to mention that the concubines in the palace had always left portraits to hang in the ancestral hall, and he had naturally seen those portraits before.

In that instant, a multitude of thoughts flashed through his mind, such as being resurrected from the dead and possessing another's body, or the Seventh Prince finding himself a concubine... and so on.

Fortunately, Xuan Shiyi soon discovered that although the person was dressed as a palace maid, he walked with a square gait and performed the scholar's bow, so he was a man.

It was Zhou Yushu. Xuan Shiyi reacted, his eyes brightening as he stared at the man. He remembered his mission: to investigate the forces behind the Seventh Prince, whether they were colluding with Zhou Yushu, and whether they were related to the Gu worm case. Having lived a comfortable life in Zhaoyang Palace for so long, he had almost forgotten that he was a spy. Fortunately, his efforts paid off, and he finally caught up with him.

Xuan Shiyi became extremely alert and began to gather information.

Xuan Shiyi's actions were not particularly noticeable, but Xue Jin'an had been watching him closely for a while and naturally noticed his subtle changes. However, since he had said to be open and honest, he made no attempt to hide it.

Xue Jin'an led Zhou Yushu straight to the main hall of Zhaoyang Palace to offer incense to Zhou Yuting's memorial tablet.

From afar, Zhou Yushu could see the wide-open main hall, and the offering table and shrine placed in the center of the hall. The small cauldron on it, filled with incense ash, was densely packed with the short sticks left over from burning incense sticks. He counted them and there were at least three hundred of them.

It should be noted that Xue Jin'an was only confined for three months, and the incense offerings were made every day without interruption, sometimes even twice or three times a day.

Zhou Yushu could hardly remain unmoved and could only say, "Good boy."

Amidst the wisps of smoke, Zhou Yushu gently stroked the inscription on the memorial tablet. Almost instinctively, two tears welled up in his eyes, and he only realized he was crying when the water droplets hit the back of his hand. He quickly restrained himself.

He smiled slightly and said, "When I saw this memorial tablet, I was almost furious with you. What kind of nonsense is carved on it? Not a single one of them is right."

This statement basically confirmed Xue Jin'an's guess. He had indeed come to Zhaoyang Palace in person back then and discovered the memorial tablet made by the original owner. The subsequent sacrifices had always been performed by his people.

Zhou Yushu was also very familiar with Zhaoyang Palace, and he could easily tour it without Xue Jin'an's guidance. He even commented, "It's very clean."

"It's all thanks to Lingzhi." The cleaning work at Zhaoyang Palace has always been overseen by Lingzhi.

Xuan Shiyi, who was eavesdropping by attaching his internal energy to his ear: "!!!" It was clearly him who did the work; Lingzhi was just a servant!

"This crystal cake tastes good. Did you make it yourself? That's impressive." Zhou Yushu picked up a pastry from the plate, took a bite, and nodded.

Xue Jin'an said, "It was prepared by Fu Lu."

Xuan Shiyi: I kneaded this dough too!!!

...

Zhou Yushu praised every part of Zhaoyang Palace, and Xue Jin'an told him as if he knew them all by heart who each part belonged to. At first, Zhou Yushu was just making conversation, but later he really admired Xue Jin'an's memory, remembering such a small thing so clearly.

To be honest, if Zhou Yushu couldn't do it, he wouldn't put his energy into these things.

Just when Xuan Shiyi thought they wouldn't say anything serious and would just leave like this, Xue Jin'an spoke up: "Who was responsible for the Gu worms on the Fifth Prince's body?"

"Don't you think it's me?" Zhou Yushu gave him a strange look, and said meaningfully, "Many people are suspicious of me."

“It wasn’t you.” Xue Jin’an denied it decisively. “This person is involved in the death of Crown Prince Zhang. He was a master of Gu poison at least twenty years ago.”

Chu Wenjing was nearing forty, but Zhou Yushu was much younger than him. When Crown Prince Zhang died, Zhou Yushu's Gu technique was probably only at the very beginning.

This affirmative attitude struck a chord with Zhou Yushu, who laughed genuinely and replied, "I study Gu worms simply because I like them, nothing more. Although I know some martial arts, I don't frequent the martial arts world much, and I know little about the masters of Gu in the martial arts world. Gu and poison are inseparable; many who play with Gu are also masters of poison. Nobody knows if those people have any secrets they might have."

After the death of the Tenth Prince, Zhou Yushu investigated some matters in the palace and had some doubts about the cause of Crown Prince Zhang's death. However, Zhou Yushu felt that it was pointless to start with Gu worms, since those who used Gu worms to harm people were always people in the palace. Rather than searching for an unknown Gu master in a haystack, it would be better to directly investigate the existing suspects.

He was genuinely unaware that the Fifth Prince's heart disease was caused by Gu worms.

When Zhou Yushu heard about this, his first reaction was to connect it to himself. He suspected that someone was deliberately trying to draw attention to him. However, after checking, he found that the Gu worm might really be the same thing that brought him bad luck as the mastermind behind it.

Zhou Yushu said, "However, I do have some connections in Dianzhou and know some families that specialize in Gu insects. I can help you contact them and ask around. I also know a good friend in Qizhou. I can ask him to help me find out about experts from outside the region."

When Zhou Yushu mentioned "outside the borders," he was referring to the southern border region, and this "friend from Qizhou" was clearly referring to Doctor Chang.

Xue Jin'an did not reveal Doctor Chang's name to avoid the emperor finding out and investigating, which would cause trouble for Doctor Chang. He took the initiative to arrange a time: "In three days, can you circle a rough list?"

"More or less." Zhou Yushu's only hesitation was about how he was going to enter the palace.

He was now exposed to the emperor's watchful eye. He didn't believe the emperor would let him come and go freely in the palace. He would definitely try to catch him. In fact, figuring out how to leave later would be a challenge.

Zhou Yushu couldn't help but sigh as he thought about this.

Xue Jin'an glanced at him, and the data analysis accurately gave him the reason for his sigh, drawing a pie chart consisting of three parts worry, three parts speechlessness, and four parts disdain for the emperor.

Xue Jin'an said, "I will get you out safely."

Xue Jin'an opened the map and began setting the destination. He removed the most common routes and then chose the least human-like route, which started at the roof of the main hall of Zhaoyang Palace.

Fortunately, her uncle knew martial arts. Xue Jin thought to herself, then said, "You don't need to go to the palace next time either, I'll come find you."

"Are you sure?" Zhou Yushu, still unaware of the treacherous path he was about to face, rubbed his inexplicably itchy nose and raised an eyebrow slightly. "I remember you were supposed to be confined for a year and a half."

"Okay, I'll report this." Xue Jin'an said as he went to find the guards at the door. Zhou Yushu followed him. After seeing the appearance of the two guards at the door, his expression remained unchanged, but his heart sank.

Although Zhou Yushu didn't have Xue Jin'an's superhuman memory that allowed him to remember the face of every passerby clearly, he wouldn't forget someone he had just met, no matter how carefree he was. Moreover, the person wearing ordinary guard armor and clothing was no ordinary person.

"Commander Wei," Zhou Yushu had worn the mask for so long that some of his subconscious habits had become ingrained in his bones. For example, Zhou Yushu now wore a fake, polite smile, and no matter how sarcastic his tone was, the smile didn't come down. "When did the Imperial Guards become so shabby that even the commander has to stand guard at the gate?"

Commander Wei had rushed over after learning that Zhou Yushu had arrived. He wasn't angry at being mocked. He even looked Zhou Yushu up and down with the same eyes one would use to look at a suspect, and said, "Protecting the Seventh Prince is my duty."

This made it sound as if he was deliberately trying to harm his nephew. Zhou Yushu was so angry he laughed.

Xue Jin'an interrupted their exchange: "Commander Wei, I will be leaving the palace in three days."

"..." Commander Wei was a little uneasy and reminded him, "Your Highness, you are still under house arrest."

"That's why I'm here to report." Xue Jin'an nodded obediently. "Any other questions?"

Commander Wei: "..." This is a huge problem! Confined to your quarters, Your Highness, please understand what confinement means!

Ignoring Commander Wei's complex and unspeakable expression, Xue Jin'an finished giving his instructions and returned to Zhaoyang Palace. After exchanging a few words with Zhou Yushu, he offered to see him off.

Xue Jin'an granted him sharing permissions: [The unethical map is now guiding you.]

“Uncle, if you follow this route, no one will be able to track you down, don’t worry.” Xue Jin’an said confidently, but Zhou Yushu was only half convinced.

Following the instructions in his mind, he climbed onto the roof and began parkour, nimbly scaling walls and rooftops, successfully attracting a group of Imperial Guards.

"Who dares to trespass into the Imperial Palace?! You thief, don't you dare run away!"

Zhou Yushu looked at the angry people chasing after him and realized that he might have been tricked, but he had no other choice but to bite the bullet and follow the map.

After running around like that with his head down for a while, he suddenly felt that the pursuers behind him had been inexplicably shaken off, and he was also inexplicably standing on the palace wall. He could leave with just one leap.

[The unethical map continues to guide you: Ahead, a person jumps off a building, overturns a fruit stall, and slides onto a main thoroughfare in Beijing.]

Zhou Yushu: "..." Oh no, you're really shameless!

Seeing that a new patrol of Imperial Guards had spotted him and were charging at him menacingly with their halberds, Zhou Yushu could only close his eyes and grit his teeth to jump down. As he jumped, he didn't forget to take out a silver ingot for compensation from his money bag.

*

The destination Xue Jin'an chose for Zhou Yushu was neither the Minister's residence nor a random selection, but rather "Nine Plus One," which was also a secret way of telling him where they would meet in three days.

Xuan Shiyi and Commander Wei reported Zhou Yushu's appearance to the emperor. The emperor said nothing, but only ordered them to lead men to follow Xue Jin'an three days later.

"Your subject obeys the decree." Both of them had witnessed Zhou Yushu's unconventional methods, and adhering to the idea that nephews are like uncles, they were also on high alert, determined to keep up with his pace.

However, the two, who were full of confidence, did not expect that Xue Jin'an would not get up even after they waited for him to go out and follow him, and even after Cui Zui came to Zhaoyang Palace to practice archery.

"No, something's not right!" Xuan Shiyi was the first to react. He immediately rushed into the side hall and found it empty. The blankets were neatly folded, and the bed was cold to the touch, with no trace of anyone having slept there.

Xue Jin'an, who had left home immediately after midnight with a cheating map app, had already finished washing up and having breakfast at Jiu Tian Yi. He had someone book a board game room and was waiting for Zhou Yushu to arrive.

After Zhou Yushu, who had regained his composure and changed into casual clothes as soon as court was over, he went to Jiu Tian Yi. However, he did not expect that before he even saw his real nephew, he would encounter his fake nephew.

"Uncle? What are you doing here? Did you come to see me?" The Fourth Prince walked over with some surprise.

The Fourth Prince has been blocking Chu Wenjing for some time now.

Since the birth of the new tenth prince, he had been in a very bad mood and had been on sick leave without going to the study. He had seen the child; the little prince was very healthy and well-built, and his crying was particularly powerful, so strong it felt like the roof could collapse, making people afraid to cover their ears and stay away.

He was completely different from his tenth brother, who was thin and small at birth and whose cries were weak and feeble.

Because she was being cared for so well and showed no signs of illness, the Emperor immediately ordered a jade tablet to be served at the full moon banquet. The Emperor had originally proposed a name with the character "Yun" in it, but Consort Chen said, "The character 'Yun' symbolizes the sky, which is too heavy. I'm afraid our little tenth child simply cannot bear the weight of it."

He said it was too heavy, but actually he thought the character was unlucky, since his tenth brother's name contained the character "Yun" (cloud).

Although Consort Chen spoke these words to the Emperor in private, secrets never stay hidden forever. Moreover, Consort Chen had always boasted that she was able to give birth to the Tenth Prince safely because she had concealed her pregnancy and thus escaped being harmed. These words were essentially an implication that the high-ranking concubines lacked tolerance and had offended everyone. So, someone must have given her a push behind the scenes, and the incident involving the character "Yun" reached the ears of the Fourth Prince and the Eldest Princess.

Coincidentally, the eldest princess's original name was Xue Mu. The character "Yun" was added by her personally when she changed her name to a double name in accordance with the emperor's decree. After that, all the princesses had the character "Yun" in their names.

"Fourth Prince, don't overthink it. The character 'Yun' has profound meaning and is indeed too heavy. It's right that she doesn't dare to accept it." The Princess's voice was soft and ethereal, with a hint of ambiguous laughter, like a gust of wind passing through a mountain. It seemed to have no weight, but it could bend overly flamboyant trees to the ground.

"Why bother arguing with someone like you?" the princess said with a light laugh.

The fourth prince didn't quite catch who it was, but after thinking about it later, he figured it was probably a fool.

The fourth prince also wanted to let it go, but in his midnight dreams, whenever he thought that in a few days this little prince named Xue Huanyin would replace his tenth brother and officially become the new tenth prince, no one would remember the child who died young, and mentioning him would be considered unlucky. His mother's connection with this world had been severed once again.

He was adopted by the deceased Consort Yu, and his mother was also removed from the royal family and clan. Would she still exist in the history books? The Fourth Prince was terrified and desperately wanted to capture Chu Wenjing. He thought that with his uncle's power, he would surely be able to leave his name in the history books, which would also prove the existence of his mother.

However, Chu Wenjing repeatedly refused to see him, and the Fourth Prince was very frustrated; he was almost too exhausted to continue. Seeing his increasingly dejected state, his study companion suggested that he come out and have some fun, saying there was a very interesting card room in the capital with a set of number-related card games that he would definitely like.

Then the fourth prince arrived, and unexpectedly, he ran into his uncle there.

The fourth prince walked over happily.

"Tsk." Zhou Yushu couldn't help but click his tongue impatiently.